Volunteers restore 1850s Jacksonville landmark

Lowes employee Peter Smith helps with renovations at the Pelletier House garden in Jacksonville Thursday.

John Althouse / The Daily News

By AMANDA HICKEY Daily News Staff

Published: Thursday, September 5, 2013 at 06:08 PM.

Brian Levy has learned a lot about the Pelletier House in downtown
Jacksonville
.

And he hopes that the work he and other Lowe’s employees are doing at the house and surrounding property will draw others to the site and the history.

Volunteers from the Lowe’s store on
Western Boulevard
have been volunteering at the house for almost two weeks as part of Lowe’s Heroes, a project that lets the store's employees give back to the community. The volunteers have been repairing woodwork, painting, refreshing the back garden, repairing brick walkways, placing park benches, weeding, replacing fencing and other upgrades.

Lisa Whitman-Grice, head of the Onslow County Museum Division and
Onslow
County
’s public information officer, said that the work was a “nice little rehabilitation” for the property.

The Pelletier House was built in the 1850s by Rufus Pelletier, a merchant who was in the turpentine distillery business with his brother and served as postmaster in the area. A decade later, he married and added on to the house. His daughter Liza was born in the 1870s and lived in the home until her death in the 1950s.

What remains of the Pelletier House, which is the oldest standing house in
Jacksonville
, is the original structure as its additions were destroyed in a fire. The Onslow County Historical Society previously owned the property after buying it from Liza Pelletier’s family after her death.

Brian Levy has learned a lot about the Pelletier House in downtown Jacksonville.

And he hopes that the work he and other Lowe’s employees are doing at the house and surrounding property will draw others to the site and the history.

Volunteers from the Lowe’s store on Western Boulevard have been volunteering at the house for almost two weeks as part of Lowe’s Heroes, a project that lets the store's employees give back to the community. The volunteers have been repairing woodwork, painting, refreshing the back garden, repairing brick walkways, placing park benches, weeding, replacing fencing and other upgrades.

Lisa Whitman-Grice, head of the Onslow County Museum Division and OnslowCounty’s public information officer, said that the work was a “nice little rehabilitation” for the property.

The Pelletier House was built in the 1850s by Rufus Pelletier, a merchant who was in the turpentine distillery business with his brother and served as postmaster in the area. A decade later, he married and added on to the house. His daughter Liza was born in the 1870s and lived in the home until her death in the 1950s.

What remains of the Pelletier House, which is the oldest standing house in Jacksonville, is the original structure as its additions were destroyed in a fire. The Onslow County Historical Society previously owned the property after buying it from Liza Pelletier’s family after her death.

“It was a labor of love,” said Whitman-Grice, who also has her own attachment to the building. She was married in front of Pelletier House in October 1989, and a copy of her wedding announcement remains in the historical society’s archives within the building.

And the surrounding property has a history all its own. The nearby Wantland Spring, which is receiving a new fence during this project, is a reminder of the area’s original name of Wantland’s Ferry after James Wantland, a local landowner and innkeeper who held 640 acres of land in the area beginning in 1753. He initiated a ferry service crossing the New River and later donated an acre of land for the construction of a town courthouse and seat.

With the rehabilitation underway, Whitman-Grice hopes to open the property up for more special events, field trips and more public use.

“I am overjoyed. We appreciate Lowe’s generosity,” she said.

Lowe’s employee James Barbour has coordinated the volunteers for the project and has put about two weeks of work into the project with Thursday being his first day away from it.

Whitman-Grice said it was nice “to see (the building) getting some love and much deserved attention.”

“I love the house so much, I just want everyone to share in that,” she said.

Lowe’s Heroes is a company-wide volunteer initiative that offers Lowe’s employees the chance to work on a project in their area.

Levy said that they received multiple proposals but they felt Pelletier House would be the project with the “biggest impact.”

“Hopefully this will bring out the exposure of the history of the house like I have the last week or two I’ve been out here,” he said.

Area teachers interested in organizing a field trip to Pelletier House can contact the OnslowCountyMuseum at 910-324-5008.

There will be an open house at Pelletier House on Sept. 21 beginning at 10 a.m. For more information, visit onslowcountync.gov/museum.

Amanda Hickey is the government reporter at The Daily News. She can be reached at amanda.hickey@jdnews.com.